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This story will make very little sense without first having read "Gateway with Gotham Problems", but far be it from me to tell anyone what to do. Please review. As always, I don't own any of the characters or settings. Enjoy.

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Diana said goodbye to the fathers and children, the victims of Tom Patrickson in Gateway. She had brought them together as a support group and visited with them occasionally, hoping to give the children a good feminine role-model. She did what she could, but never pretended that she could replace their mothers. It had been several months now and healing was already taking place. The families were far from being used to the new normal, but they were beginning to accept it. Her league duties felt so simple in comparison; save people from a natural disaster, beat up a supervillain, rescue hostages when the police could not, etc.

Teleporting to the Watchtower was something she would never get used to, it felt strange; a combination of getting slapped in the face and being tickled by a thousand hands. However, she had gotten used to it enough to not be disoriented after rematerializing. It did not take long for her to make it to the famous roundtable. Not many images of the interior of the Watchtower existed, but they had once outvoted Batman on the question of allowing a news team in. Batman argued that it was a security risk, but they wanted the world to trust them, and it had worked. One of the few images the news team was allowed to take was one of the roundtable where they conferred over both trivial and eschatological issues. The image had gone viral instantly.

Unlike in the image, all but two seats were filled. She took hers leaving only one, very notable, vacancy. She did not notice herself staring at the empty air resting lightly upon that chair until Clark cleared his throat.

"First off, this is not the elephant in the room, or rather lack thereof, but while we're all here we should take care of it real quick. There have been some complaints about the air quality in certain sectors of the tower. All in favor of dedicating resources to bring in the NASA guy who fixed this last time?"

"Aye," they all chorused.

"Okay, then on to the raison d'être of this meeting. A period of absence is somewhat expected occasionally, but it has been months. I've reached out to him on several occasions to no avail. I'm sure all of you are aware of the reason for this absence, so I will not waste any time on the subject. The question is: What do we do?"

"We could always just tell him there's a world-ending crisis," Wally said jokingly.

Diana glared at him. "Wally, this is not a joke, the man's current state is extremely worrying. Please treat this seriously."

Wally was somewhat taken aback, but knew she was right. "Of course. I'm sorry. What did Bats always say? I use humor as a defense mechanism."

J'onn spoke up, "While I agree that this is no laughing matter, Wally's idea has some merit, though extreme. If I understand correctly, Batman is beyond reason. It might very well take appealing to his mission or his empathy to draw him out."

"What empathy?" Shayera scoffed, but realized her mistake when she received a glare from Diana and John kicked her under the table.

Clark ignored Shayera's comment. "So then, the question changes. How can we appeal to the Batman's heart without lying or incurring his wrath?"

They all sat in silence with furrowed brows for a long time. Eventually they decided that they would just have to keep the issue in mind and voted to adjourn the meeting.

"Clark, can I speak with you in private?" Diana stopped him before he left.

Clark nodded and they waited for the other leaguers to leave.

"What is it?"

"We need to talk to Alfred about this."

"Why not just bring that up in meeting?"

Diana pinched the bridge of her nose. "Because...because getting them involved would hurt more than it would help. Plus, he is still capable of maintaining a certain air of mystery around the others and he values that greatly."

Clark nodded in agreement. Diana was probably the first to say it outloud, but the two of them were almost definitely the only ones in the League that were close enough to Bruce to completely see through the myth of Batman. The others still saw more Batman than Bruce, and there was no doubt that he liked it that way.

"Of course, our involvement should be questioned for the same reasons, Diana."

"Agreed. That's why we need to talk to Alfred. He'll know best what to do."

A grin crossed Clark's face. "We should bring him up to the Watchtower while Bruce is busy."

Diana laughed. "We definitely should...How will we hide it from Bruce though. He wouldn't appreciate us stealing his butler and would immediately start asking questions."

"Yeah, maybe you're right. Even if we just said that we brought Alfred up to hang out he would get suspicious and look into it."

"And I'd rather not hide anything from him, especially when we're trying to get him to trust us...Buuuut…"

"What?" Clark looked at her expectantly.

"You could fly down to a pre-arranged pickup spot with a spacesuit and bring him up yourself. Bruce wouldn't have records of a teleport or records of us entering the manor."

Clark frowned. "It still feels like hiding something from him."

"Yes, but we do have to talk to Alfred either way, and this way we don't have to lie to Bruce."

"What the heck, let's do it. I'll call Alfred and see if he's okay with all of this."

"Keep me posted." Diana turned to leave and then realized she had not seen Alfred in a while, she was looking forward to it.

…

Superman grabbed a spacesuit on his way out of one of the hangers and sped towards the Earth. He had got pretty good at estimating entry trajectory, so when he got below the clouds and could see clearly that he was already over Gotham he said, "Yes," to himself quietly. He navigated to the prearranged pickup spot and spotted Alfred standing there with poise as always. In contrast to the serenity Alfred portrayed, the Kryptonian could hear and see that he had an accelerated heartbeat, betraying the butler's nervousness.

"I understand why we can't meet at the manor and why I cannot use the teleports. But why must we meet on the Watchtower?"

"It isn't technically necessary, but both Diana and I wanted to show you the view. You deserve to see what your hard work has wrought."

"Master Kent, I did not build the Watchtower, nor did I pay for it."

"But you let the man who did stand on your shoulders, and not once did you cave under the weight placed on his."

"Thank you, Master Kent." Alfred refused to show any more gratitude than was appropriate.

The flight was not fun for Alfred, but it did not take long to get to the Watchtower, even with the acceleration limitations imposed by Alfred's human physiology. Diana was waiting for them and embraced Alfred upon their arrival. She led them to the meeting room she had picked out and motioned for Alfred to join her at the currently opaque viewing window. She pressed a button and the window went from darkened, to translucent, to transparent. Alfred stood motionless looking at the Earth, invisibly held in the void.

"He sees this whenever he is up here?"

Diana exchanged a glance of confusion with the already seated Superman before responding, "Yes. I suppose he does. He explained it to me once, we're in a geosynchronous orbit, so unless we change trajectories we see the same view every time we look out the window."

"Good." With that word Alfred pulled out a chair for Diana.

Having learned not to protest such things from Alfred, she sat down. Alfred promptly took his seat as well.

"If I may, in my experience it is best to wait and let Master Bruce work these things out on his own. Eventually he will recenter himself and slowly become less insular again." Clark and Diana adopted long faces, Alfred's words confirming their fears. "However, there's a 'new piece in play', if you will, and I do not yet know how that piece will affect the game."

"What do you mean?" Clark cocked his head to the side.

Alfred looked at Diana, trying to read her face to see whether it was okay to continue or not. Unfortunately, her face became as unreadable as Bruce's when she wanted it to. "I believe Her Highness knows what I speak of."

Diana's face went stern. "He has made it clear that I am not welcome as a comforter, nor as a fellow griever. Plus, we have agreed, both individually and mutually, that it is better for us to remain individuals."

Clark took a moment to process her words and then understanding crossed his face.

Feeling freed from the constraints of Clark's potential ignorance, Alfred matched her sternness tit-for-tat. "It seems you and Master Bruce also share the unbecoming traits of stubbornness and self-delusion. Please, tell me, as if I have not already heard it enough from him, why you two are so averse to the idea?"

Neither Diana nor Clark had ever seen or heard Alfred be this aggressive and it took them a few seconds to recover.

"Alfred, I don't think either of us dislike the idea, it's just far more complicated than that. There is more at stake than our happiness."

"Forgive me, Princess, but love is not about happiness."

At Alfred's words the room froze, silence hanging in the air like icicles off the ceiling.

A single tear rolled down Diana's expressionless face as she spoke softly, "You think I don't know that? I wish nothing more than to share his burden, to prop him up, and to be with him in his grief. I would rather spend eternity grieving him than eternity alone. But love is war, and our war would cause too much collateral damage; to ourselves and to others. I can't afford to spend eternity grieving for him and neither of us can afford the time investment that love demands."

"My lady, you both love the world so much that you trick yourselves into thinking you have nothing to spare for each other. But you both already love each other, there is no extra commitment, you just have to start doing things together."

Diana was silent, her head bowed, so Clark spoke next, "Diana, I have watched you both prioritize each other countless times. I have sat by and watched as both of you have suffered alone and been less effective because of it. You aren't helping anyone by denying yourselves, even now he grieves alone when we need him."

She looked at Alfred. "What would you have me do?"

"Go to Jason's grave, he will find you soon enough. After that, I am afraid you are on your own, my lady."

"I'll consider it." She stood up and walked out of the room.

After she left Clark looked at Alfred. "I knew something was beneath the surface, but you can never tell just how deep a feeling runs with those two."

Diana looked at the small shrine she had in her Watchtower room with all her patrons on it. It was lackluster at best, but it did the trick. She set her eyes on a small statue of Aphrodite and began to pray. She asked for guidance before turning to Athena and asking for wisdom. However, she did not feel her usual calm and resoluteness after praying; feeling the need to get closer to them and pray more. She got off her knees and found a χιτών (common type of clothing in Ancient Greece) and a ἱμάτιον (Ancient Greek outer garment) that were nice, but not frivolously so, and put them on over her armor. She briefly looked in the mirror, nodded, and then headed for the teleports.

She materialized in what used to be the agora of Athens and looked around her, attempting to imagine the world she had never seen. She had read about the famous marketplace living in the shadow of the Acropolis, but shining with its own unique brilliance. Now, it was nothing but ruins, greenery, and parts of modern Athens. She sighed as she glanced up at the Acropolis, the ruins of the Parthenon still beautiful, but Athena Promachos long gone. She quietly wondered to herself once again why the Greeks had forsaken the gods while she looked for the ruins of the altar of Aphrodite Uranius.

…

Aphrodite startled, hearing prayer from a part of the world she thought had rejected her. Like an amputated limb causing phantom pains, a voice broke into her very being. And it was...Diana? She leaped from her couch and rushed up the mount to Hera. Bursting through the doors to the Olympian palace, she found Hera taking a walk in the gardens. Hera gave her a quizzical look.

"Hera, Diana, daughter of Hippolyta, calls to me, and from my altar in Athens."

Hera smiled, "You wish to see Athens again."

"It has been so long, my queen."

"Very well, but you know that it is not what it used to be."

"I am aware, but so rarely now do we get the chance to set foot on Earth at all. I love Olympus, but there is a beauty to the flaws in the mortal world."

Hera nodded, "Mother Gaia would be pleased to know that the Goddess of Beauty thinks she has aged well. Maybe I'll join you, or at least listen in."

Aphrodite closed her eyes and when she opened them she was standing behind her altar looking down at Diana who had already genuflected in response to her appearance. She took in the surroundings remarking on the same things Diana had noticed upon her arrival.

"Rise, child." She drank in the beauty of the trees and the ruins around her, and then frowned. "I remember when this place was full of activity; people offering up praise, those damned philosophers arguing, and goods being traded from all over the world."

Diana suppressed a chuckle. "What do you have against the philosophers?"

The goddess raised an eyebrow, "Those heathens were more concerned with their own imaginings than with the gods or the beauty around them. Reason." She scoffed and shook her head. "They started Greece down the path of irreverence and apostasy. Curse them."

"What would Athena say?"

As if on queue Athena appeared, irate and glaring at Aphrodite. "Hear we go again. Yes, blame the philosophers, why don't you? As if they really had sway over the people's hearts. Greece left the fold out of love, and don't you dare deny it. They found more love elsewhere than they did in you."

Before Aphrodite could retort, Hera appeared betwixt them. "Aphrodite. Athena. I did not grant permission to answer Diana's prayers so that you could move this petty dispute to a new battleground. We are here to see Athens again and to help Diana, not to squabble."

Athena and Aphrodite gave each other one last glare before Aphrodite turned to Diana, "I know why you have called upon me, and I know what answer your heart desires. However, I am afraid I cannot give it to you. You have done much good in my name, but he is mortal and will fade. He is like a grain of sand on the beach, with many others he is a part of something beautiful, but alone...he is nothing."

Diana took a step away from the goddess, "How could you say that? I thought you, of all the gods, would understand."

The three goddesses looked at each other, sadness in their eyes. Hera took a step toward Diana. "We were worried this might happen. You have been among them too long, developed feelings for some of them. We can offer you respite, enough time to forget him."

"This isn't just about him! I think you all have been apart from them too long. No, not them, us. I am one of them! Aphrodite, you used to care, you defended Paris and Helen's love."

Athena laughed, "She did not defend them out of care for them! She defended them out of care for her argument. She wanted to prove herself right!" Both of the other goddesses glared at Athena for her lack of tact. "What? It's true! None of us got involved in that war out of care for the people involved. None of us even pretended that was the case, why must we pretend now, in front of Diana? You know how highly she values truth! Don't lie to her face." The other goddesses were silent. "Diana, as much as I hate to agree with Aphrodite, there IS wisdom in her words, and I have heard that you agree. You are immortal, he is mortal, he isn't worth it."

Diana took another step back. "Not worth it?! You can see into my mind, and you think I agree with that?! They are ALL worth it! I do not claim privilege over them by right of birth or by any other measure! And Bruce...Bruce deserves far more than I. He has worked harder than any of us, through sheer force of will he has taken a seat among those who by chance were made great! And he has claimed that seat, not for himself, but for all those without the luck it took us to get there! Each and every single person out there is worth infinitely more than a grain of sand, or a beach, or the oceans of the world!"

Hera took another step forward and reached out her arms in a gesture of embrace. "I feel your pain, my child. And I know where it comes from. The need to have a child is strong in you because of your human body, so you have adopted the world. If you must, have a child with him and then move on."

Diana was now shaking her head as tears came down her face and her feet carried her away from the altar. "You can't even hear me can you? You are all so caught up in your own worlds that you can't rightly see the one that actually exists."

"My child…"

"No." She spoke softly in a whisper, not believing the words coming out of her mouth. "Get away from me."

Hera stopped moving towards her. "Diana, don't do this. You are all we have left in this world. The Greeks have abandoned us, the barbarians who claim to worship us don't know what they're doing, and sometimes the Amazons feel less a part of humanity than we are."

"Can't you hear yourselves? This is why the Greeks forsook you. You were both right, in their wisdom they saw the lack of love coming from Olympus, and ceased to requite what they had never been given."

At this Hera grew angry. "We gave you your strength! You have no right!"

"And I will be eternally grateful for your gifts, but I do not keep them for myself, I pass them on to the world." With this Diana walked away, she did not look back.

She wandered amongst the trees, aimlessly, pondering what had just happened. A bell sounded nearby, the low peel grabbing her attention. Looking for a distraction she searched for the origin. It did not take her long to find, as the bell continued to ring, slowly and rhythmically. The source was a domed building, with an attached bell tower. It had a vague resemblance to some of the architecture on Themyscira, she looked at it with curiosity. She had not stood there long when she felt a tugging at her ἱμάτιον. She looked down at the little girl standing next to her, holding her mother's hand.

"You're Wonder Woman aren't you?" The girl asked. Her mother looked embarrassed, but also curious to hear her response.

Diana smiled warmly at the girl and squated next to her. "Yes, I am, but you can call me Diana."

"Awesome! Will you sit next to me, Diana?" The girl pointed at the doors to the building in front of them.

Before her mother could express her apologies, Diana answered, "Sure."

"Yay!" The girl grabbed her hand and led her and her mom through the doors.

As they entered, the bell stopped ringing and Diana took in the beautiful paintings that covered every wall. These were also not unlike some of the murals in Themyscira. There were definite differences, but she felt somewhat at home here. The dome, the columns, the simple but colorful figures. Then she heard singing, chanting in Ancient Greek, she welcomed the sound of her native tongue that not even the Greeks spoke anymore. She basked in the aesthetic feeling it brought her, she got occasional glances from people, but for the most part their focus was elsewhere.

Soon it was over and the girl's mother told her daughter it was time to go. The girl looked disappointed to have to say goodbye to Diana, but she complied.

"Diana, my name is Maria, I hope I see you again." With that the girl and her mother left.

Before the building was empty a man approached her. "Welcome, my name is Father Nikolaos. I wanted to thank you for all you have done for this world."

"You're welcome. My name is Diana."

The man chuckled slightly. "I know." He turned to leave, but she stopped him.

"Why did you forsake the gods?"

Nikolaos looked confused for a moment before he caught on. "Ah, you mean the Greeks. Why did we forsake the gods?"

She nodded.

"We were shown a better way. We worshipped the gods because we feared them, but a man came who defeated our fear and loved us more than we deserved. And all He asked was that we love Him in return."

"How did you know he loved you? What if he just wanted you as servants?"

Nikolaos pointed at one of the paintings, "Because He died for us. And in doing so He taught us a love that is hard to understand and even harder to emulate. But we try anyway, together."

"And what would you say to one convinced that they must do it alone?"

"I would say to them that no one is meant to suffer and die alone. Some must, but if at all possible we should recognize the others that already do suffer with us. It is in community that our suffering truly has purpose. Besides, none of us are ever truly alone."

"Thank you."

"Don't mention it, it's my job."

"Well then you have found the most noble of professions."

"We all play our part, however humble. Even the smallest stone helps to support the building, and should not be considered lower than the stones that form the walls. It was nice to meet you, Diana."

"Likewise." Diana left the building and started on her way to Gotham.